As we reported on April 2, a California hospital breached the privacy of the infamous "OctoMom," Nadya Suleman. When the breach was discovered, Kaiser Permanente’s hospital in Bellflower, California fired 15 employees. These violations also were reported by Kaiser to the California Department of Public Health, which has announced a $187,500 administrative penalty against Kaiser. CDPH has determined that the hospital "failed to prevent unauthorized access to patients’ medical information, as required by Section 1280.15 of the Health and Safety Code. The hospital compromised the privacy of four patients when eight employees improperly accessed records."
The penalty amount of $187,500 represents "$100,000 for the first breach of four individual’s medical record and $87,500 for five additional breaches of those medical records after the first." In addition to the penalty, the Kaiser facility is required to submit a plan of correction to CDPH within 10 working days and implement a plan of correction to prevent future incidents.